The following is a list of new and forthcoming adult and children’s titles on the issues surrounding immigration and its impact on the American experience.
ADULTS:
ALGONQUIN
Honor
Thrity Umrigar, Jan.
Two Indian women navigate how to live in a country they want to love and claim as their own even though reprehensible things continue to happen.
Perpetual West
Mesha Maren, Jan.
The follow-up to Sugar Run looks at the false divide between high and low culture, and how harrowing events can bring our true selves to the surface.
BEACON
White Borders: The History of Race and Immigration in the United States from Chinese Exclusion to the Border Wall
Reece Jones, out now
How immigration laws in the U.S. have always been motivated by racial exclusion and the desire to save the idea of a white America.
Parenting with an Accent: How Immigrants Honor Their Heritage, Navigate Setbacks, and Chart New Paths for Their Children
Masha Rumer, Nov.
An exploration of multicultural parenting and identity in the U.S., through real stories, research, and on-the-ground reporting.
BERKLEY
Red Thread of Fate
Lyn Liao Butler, Feb.
In the wake of a tragedy and fueled by guilt from a family secret, two women—a second generation Taiwanese American and a recent immigrant from China––discover the delicate nature of the thread that binds family.
Four Aunties and A Wedding
Jesse Q. Sutanto, Mar.
The Dial A for Aunties are back, determined not to let Meddy’s wedding day become a murder scene and to do whatever it takes to save her special day––even if it means taking on the Mob.
CATAPULT
The Four Humors: A Novel
Mina Seçkin, Nov.
Rather than grieving her father's untimely death, a young Turkish-American woman seeks treatment for a stubborn headache and grows obsessed with a centuries-old theory of medicine.
Seeking Fortune Elsewhere
Sindya Bhanoo, Feb.
Intimate stories of South Indian immigrants and the families they left behind, centering women’s lives and asking how women claim and surrender power.
DEEP VELLUM
Winter Phoenix
Sophia Terazawa, out now
A collection of poems in which the poet, daughter of a Vietnamese refugee, reckons with America's history of colonialism, its generation-spanning culpability in Vietnam, and the trauma refugees and their families carry across borders.
The Almond in the Apricot
Sara Goudarzi, Jan.
After a personal tragedy, Emma begins having lifelike nightmares in which she's a child who lives in a war-torn country and has to take shelter from frequent airstrikes; soon, Emma’s waking life begins to be affected by the events that transpire in this mysterious landscape.
PAMELA DORMAN
Yinka, Where Is You Huzband?
Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, Jan.
A love story that explores what it means to find your way between two cultures, both of which are yours, through Yinka, a thirty-something, Oxford-educated, British Nigerian woman with a well-paid job, good friends, and a mother whose constant refrain is “Yinka, where is your huzband?”
DOUBLEDAY
Beautiful Country
Qian Julie Wang, out now
From PW’s starred review: “While Wang’s story of pursuing the American dream is undoubtedly timeless, it’s her family’s triumph in the face of ‘xenophobia and intolerance’ that makes it feel especially relevant today.”
HANOVER SQUARE
Walking the Bowl: A True Story of Murder and Survival Among the Street Children of Lusaka
Chris Lockhart and Daniel Mulilo Chama, Feb.
Based on five years of field research, focuses on stories of forced labor, sex trafficking, and the perils of rural-to-urban migration among the young poor of Zambia.
HARPERVIA
Alien Nation: 36 True Tales of Immigration
Sofija Stefanovic, out now
A collection of 36 immigrant stories originally told on stage, spanning comedy and tragedy, features work by writers, entertainers, and thinkers illuminating what it’s like to be an immigrant in America.
IMAGE COMICS
The Good Asian, Volume 1
Pornsak Pichetshote, illus. by Alexandre Tefenkgi, Lee Loughridge, and Dave Johnson, out now
Chinatown noir starring the generation of Americans to come of age under America’s first immigration ban—the Chinese Exclusion Act—as they’re besieged by rampant murders, abusive police, and a world that seemingly never changes.
Bitter Root, Vol. 3
David F. Walker and Chuck Brown, illus. by Sanford Greene, Nov.
Set in Harlem, the latest in the Eisner Award-winning series by the all-Black creative team follows a family of monster-hunters who seek to eradicate the hatred-feeding evil that surrounds them.
Made In Korea
Jeremy Holt, illus. by George Schall, Feb.
A science fiction series exploring themes of identity and family, set in a world where biological parenthood is no longer a reality.
INTERLINK
The Bad Immigrant
Sefi Atta, Nov.
Through the voice of her first male protagonist, Atta peels away nuanced layers to expose the realities of migration from Nigeria to the USA, such as the strains of adjustment and the stifling pressure to conform without loss of identity.
JUDSON
Church at the Wall: Stories of Hope along the San Diego-Tijuana Border
Seth David Clark, Feb.
Through the eyes of active participants, how the Border Church, founded and pastored by John Fanestil, worships on the San Diego–Tijuana border without a building, offering theology, justice, righteousness, and love.
MCSWEENEY’S
You People
Nikita Lalwani, July
From PW’s review: “A London pizzeria owner helps undocumented people… Lalwani’s story surges with passion, intrigue, and a rigorous eye toward British immigration policy.”
NEW PRESS
If We Want to Win: A Latine Vision for a New American Democracy
Edited by Diana Campoamor, out now
A collection of essays offering the stories of the vast Latine community, drawing on their experience and expertise in areas ranging from the arts, juvenile justice, women’s rights, and education, to environmental justice, racism, human rights, immigration, technology, and philanthropy.
Immigration Matters: Movements, Visions, and Strategies for a Progressive Future
Edited by Ruth Milkman, Deepak Bhargava, and Penny Lewis, out now
A provocative, strategic, and actionable vision for immigration policy that brings together leading activists and academics like U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal, Cecilia Muñoz, D. Taylor, Marielena Hincapié, and others.
One Fair Wage: Ending Subminimum Pay in America
Saru Jayaraman, out now
Examines how the subminimum wage and the tipping system exploit society’s most marginalized, many of them immigrants, women, people of color, and disabled workers.
PENGUIN
Those We Throw Away Are Diamonds: A Refugee’s Search for Home
Mondiant Dogon with Jenna Krajeski, out now
From PW’s starred review: “A human rights activist remembers a childhood besieged by violence in Congo and Rwanda in this searing debut memoir. The result is an immensely moving memorial to the Rwandan tragedy.”
All The Flowers Kneeling
Paul Tran, Feb.
Tran's debut poetry collection investigates intergenerational trauma, sexual violence, and U.S. imperialism.
Tell Everyone on This Train I Love Them
Maeve Higgins, Feb.
The Irish comedian offers a topical collection of essays seeking to shine a light on different pockets of America, warts and all.
POISONED PEN
No Witness: A Cal Claxton Mystery
Warren Easley, out now
A lawyer and a Dreamer begin a dangerous investigation of ruthless people who leverage the fear of a vulnerable population for profit and an assassin who is as cunning as he is deadly.
RANDOM HOUSE
Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City
Andea Elliott, out now
The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist follows eight years in the life of a young girl whose spirit is tested by homelessness, poverty, and racism in an unequal America.
Brown Girls
Daphne Palasi Andreades, Jan.
A group of friends and their immigrant families from Queens, New York populate this poetic love letter to a modern generation of brown girls.
Joan Is Okay
Weike Wang, Jan.
A female doctor––the daughter of Chinese parents who immigrated to America to secure the American dream––wonders where her true roots lie: at the hospital, where her white coat makes her feel needed, or with her family, who try to shape her life by their own social and cultural expectations.
RARE MACHINES
The Shaytan Bride: A Bangladeshi Canadian Memoir of Desire and Faith
Sumaiya Matin, out now
Details Matin's journey as a Bangladeshi woman who came to Canada at the age of six, her acclimatization to Canadian culture, and her experiences as a Muslim woman navigating the diaspora, sexuality and gender identity, romance, racism, and feminism.
RIVER GROVE
Journeys from There to Here: Stories of Immigrant Trials, Triumphs, and Contributions
Susan Cohen, Nov.
A collection of immigrant trials, triumphs, and contributions from a leading immigration lawyer sheds light on the many pathways people take to not only attain the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but more importantly, contribute to the nation that they will eventually call home.
SHE WRITES
America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility
Rajika Bhandari, out now
A memoir of the author’s journey as an international student and immigrant from India to the U.S., and an evidence-driven argument that shows why preventing the world’s best and brightest from seeking the American Dream will put this country’s future in jeopardy.
TRUTH TO POWER
Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement
Toufah Jallow, out now
The author’s journey from rape victim to toppling a dictator, starting a movement, and then a foundation to support fellow survivors of sexual assault.
UNIV. OF FLORIDA
Home in Florida: Latinx Writers and the Literature of Uprootedness
Edited by Anjanette Delgado, out now
A collection of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry featuring renowned and award-winning contemporary Latinx writers who capture the diversity of immigrant experiences in Florida.
UNIV. OF NORTH CAROLINA
Afropolitan Projects: Redefining Blackness, Sexualities, and Culture from
Houston to Accra
Anima Adjepong, Nov.
Focusing on queer sexuality, this ethnographic study examines the Afropolitan projects––cultural, political, and aesthetic expressions of global belonging rooted in African ideals––of Ghanaians living in two cosmopolitan cities: Houston, Texas, and Accra, Ghana.
VIKING
Fiona and Jane
Jean Chen Ho, Jan.
Stories told in alternating voices trace the lives of two young Taiwanese American women as they navigate friendship, sexuality, identity, and heartbreak over two decades.
WYATT-MACKENZIE
Antonio, We Know You
Antonio Salazar-Hobson, Mar.
The life of the California labor lawyer who has worked with the United Farmworkers and large international unions for over thirty years, from his childhood as a migrant farmworker kidnapped at age four, trafficked at a famous California Ranch which was a clandestine front for pedophiles, until being saved from an attempted suicide and taken under Cesar Chavez’s wing.
CHILDREN’S/YOUNG ADULT:
BLOOMSBURY
Where Butterflies Fill the Sky
Zahra Marwan, Feb.
The true story of the author’s and her family's immigration from Kuwait, where they were considered stateless, to New Mexico, where they made a new home. Ages 4-8.
CANDLEWICK
On the Move: Poems About Migration
Michael Rosen, illus. by Quentin Blake, Jan.
This companion book to The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II gathers 49 poems exploring themes of migration and displacement through the lens of Rosen’s childhood in the shadow of World War II, the lives of his relatives during that war, and migration, refugees, and displacement today and tomorrow, here and everywhere. Ages 10-up.
The Waiting Place: When Home Is Lost and a New One Not Yet Found
Dina Nayeri, illus. by Anna Bosch Miralpeix, Mar.
An unflinching look at 10 young lives suspended outside of time—and bravely proceeding anyway—inside the Katsikas refugee camp in Greece. Ages 12-up.
HARPERCOLLINS
Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma
Joanna Ho, illus. by Teresa Martinez, out now
A picture book about renowned musician Yo-Yo Ma, immigration, and using music to build bridges between cultures. Ages 4-8.
HARPERCOLLINS/BALZER + BRAY
Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American
Laura Gao, Feb.
A graphic memoir of a queer Chinese-American immigrant. Ages 14-up.
HARPERCOLLINS/CLARION
World in Between: Based on a True Refugee Story
Kenan Trebinčević and Susan Shapiro, July
Inspired by Trebinčević’s own childhood as a Muslim refugee of the Bosnian War, this immigration story offers an accessible introduction to the global refugee crisis. Ages 8-12.
HARPERCOLLINS/QUILL TREE
Dream, Annie, Dream
Waka T. Brown, Jan.
At the start of seventh grade, Annie, a Japanese-American girl with big dreams, tries out for a school play in hopes of winning the lead, only to be faced with a barrage of microaggressions from her peers that make her question if the American Dream truly applies to everyone. Ages 8-12.
HOLIDAY HOUSE/PORTER
Bright Star
Yuyi Morales, out now
In this follow-up to the bestseller Dreamers, a fawn makes her way through a border landscape teeming with flora and fauna native to the region; a gentle but empowering voice encourages her to face her fears when she comes across an obstacle in the form of an insurmountable barrier. Published simultaneously with Lucero, a Spanish translation. Ages 4–8.
IMAGE COMICS
Home
Julio Anta and Anna Wieszczyk, Nov.
A boy is torn away from his mother while seeking asylum at the U.S. border, just as something begins to change in him; he doesn’t know it yet, but it’s the onset of superhuman abilities that will change his life forever. Ages 13-16.
INKYARD
The City Beautiful
Aden Polydoros, out now
This historical fantasy follows a young, queer, Jewish immigrant who is possessed by the evil spirit of his murdered best friend, and is and catapulted into a deadly hunt for the serial killer who is terrorizing Chicago during 1893 World’s Fair. Ages 13-17.
KIDS CAN
My Words Flew Away Like Birds
Debora Pearson, illus. by Shrija Jain, out now
A girl learns some words in a new language to prepare for her move to a new country–but when they arrive, “all her words fly away like birds…” until she makes a new friend. Ages 4-8.
Stealing Home: A Graphic Novel
J. Torres, illus. by David Namisato, out now
Sandy Saito is obsessed with the Asahi baseball team, the pride of his Japanese Canadian community. But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Sandy realizes that life is a lot like baseball: dealing with whatever is thrown at you, however you can, and finding your way home. Ages 9-12.
LITTLE, BROWN
I Am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story
Martha Brockenbrough and Grace Lin, illus. by Julia Kuo, Nov.
Introduces young readers to the young man who challenged the Supreme Court for his right to be an American citizen and won in 1898, confirming birthright citizenship for all Americans. Ages 4-8.
MACMILLAN/FSG
Why Is Everybody Yelling? Growing Up in My Immigrant Family
Marisabina Russo, out now
A graphic novel memoir of the author's experiences with family, religion, and coming of age in the aftermath of World War II, and the childhood struggles and family secrets that shaped her. Ages 12-18.
MACMILLAN/FEIWEL AND FRIENDS
Bounce Back
Misako Rocks!, out now
Lilico must move from Japan to America, and with the help of her cat, learns to adjust to a new country, a new school, and new pressures. Ages 9-13.
I Am Golden
Eva Chen, illus. by Sophie Diao, Jan.
A story by bestselling author Chen that seeks to validate and inspire self-love in Chinese-American children; includes author’s and illustrator’s notes, family photos, and a list of resources for Asian-American advocacy. Ages 3-6.
Watch Me
Doyin Richards, illus. by Joe Cepeda, Jan.
A picture book that encourages telling family stories and hearing those of others, based on the author's father's own story of coming to America from Sierra Leone in the 1970s and facing prejudice, mistrust, and alienation. Ages 3-5.
MINEDITION US
Antonia: A Journey to a New Home
Dipacho, out now
This nearly wordless picture book conveys one child’s loss from forced migration as a girl and her dog, Antonia, journey with their family across a river to start a new life. Ages 4–8.
MACMILLAN/HOLT
Friends Are Friends, Forever
Dane Liu; illus. by Lynn Scurfield, Dec.
A picture book based on the author's own immigration story, the infinite impact of friendship, and passing on love and kindness around the world. Includes a guide to Chinese paper cutting. Ages 4-8.
NORTON YOUNG READERS
Courage: My Story of Persecution
Freshta Tori Jan, Jan.
A young woman once persecuted by the Taliban in Kabul shares her journey to becoming a community activist. Ages 9-12.
PENGUIN/PHILOMEL
Cramm This Book: So You Know WTF Is Going on in the World Today
Olivia Seltzer, Feb.
One of Gen Z's leading voices––the founder of The Cramm, a news outlet by and for a new generation––offers the stories and history behind the news today. Ages 12-up.
PENGUIN WORKSHOP
Who Was the Voice of the People? Cesar Chavez
Terry Blas, illus. by Mar Julia, Dec.
A graphic novel spotlighting Latino American civil rights leader Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers’ 300-mile march in support of farm workers’ rights. Ages 8-12.
QUARTO
A World Full of Journeys
Martin Howard, illus. by Christopher Corr, Feb.
Examines journeys throughout history, from the very first humans who left Africa almost 70,000 years ago and moved around the world, to immigrants welcomed to America at Ellis Island. Ages 5-8
RANDOM HOUSE
Marley and the Family Band
Cedella Marley, illus. by Tiffany Rose, Jan.
A girl moves to a new country and learns to make friends—inspired by a childhood growing up with musician Bob Marley as a father. Ages 4-8.
Maizy Chen's Last Chance
Lisa Yee, Feb.
When Maizy Chen comes back to Last Chance, Minn., to help her grandfather and the family’s restaurant, she realizes there’s a lot about her family she doesn’t know. And when someone leaves a racist note, Maizy decides it’s time to start finding answers. Ages 8-12.
SCHOLASTIC
Room to Dream (A Front Desk Novel)
Kelly Yang, out now
On a family vacation to China, Mia Tang witnesses some of the big changes China's going through and thinks about the changes in her own life. Ages 8-12.
SCHOLASTIC EN ESPAÑOL
La tierra de las grullas (Land of the Cranes)
Aida Salazar, out now
Nine-year-old Betita and her pregnant mother must learn to survive in a family detention camp outside of Los Angeles; yet despite the cruel and inhumane conditions, Betita finds heart in her own poetry and in the community she and her mother find in the camp. Ages 8-12.
SCHOLASTIC/ORCHARD
Wishes
Mượn Thị Văn, illus. by Victo Ngai, out now
Through the eyes of a girl, inspired by actual events in the author's life, a Vietnamese family leaves their world behind, traveling to a new and unknown place in a crowded boat. Ages 4-8.
In the Spirit of a Dream
Aida Salazar, illus. and compiled by Alina Chau, Nov.
A celebration of 13 American immigrants of color, from world-famous to local heroes, politicians, surgeons, athletes, activists and more, who set out across continents, oceans, and borders, traveling to the United States in pursuit of opportunity. Ages 5-7.
SIMON & SCHUSTER
New from Here
Kelly Yang, Mar.
From the author of Front Desk, a middle grade novel about courage, hope, and resilience as an Asian American boy fights to keep his family together and stand up to racism during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.
Ages 8-12.
When Can We Go Back to America?
Susan H. Kamei, out now
A narrative history of Japanese Americans before, during, and after their World War II incarceration, through the voices of over 130 individuals who lived through this tragic episode, most of them as young adults. Ages 15-up.
S&S/ATHENEUM
Isla to Island
Alexis Castellanos, Mar.
A wordless graphic novel following a girl in the 1960s who immigrates from Cuba to the United States and must redefine what home means to her. Ages 10-up.
S&S/ATHENEUM/DLOUHY
We Are Wolves
Katrina Nannestad, Feb.
This novel follows three of the Wolfskinder, German children left to fend for themselves in the final days of World War II, as they struggle to survive in the wild. Ages 10-14.
S&S/WISEMAN
The Welcome Chair
Rosemary Wells, illus. by Jerry Pinkney, out now
Based in part on a 100-year-old family journal, Wells brings to life a story that the diary’s fragile pages tell: the story of a wooden rocking chair handmade around 1825 by her great-great-grandfather, an immigrant Jewish boy who came to America from Germany in the early 1800s. Ages 4-8.
Light for All
Margarita Engle, illus. by Raúl Colón, Dec.
A picture book that celebrates the immigrant experience in America. Ages 4-8.
SOURCEBOOKS EXPLORE
Our World Is a Family: A Book About Being a Good Neighbor
Miry Whitehill and Jennifer Jackson,illus. by Nomar Perez, Mar.
Learn how to welcome new neighbors into the community, particularly when they might be far from home, in this picture book that champions human connection and inclusivity. Ages 3-8.
